{"product_id":"a-footman-for-the-peacock-9781911413714","title":"A Footman for the Peacock","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe peacock displayed himself and paraded the lawn, sometimes pausing to look up at the sky.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWaiting? Listening? Guiding. No. \u003c\/em\u003eSignalling.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eControversial when first published in the early days of World War II, due to its treatment of a loathsome upper-crust family dodging wartime responsibility, \u003cem\u003eA Footman for the Peacock\u003c\/em\u003e can now be enjoyed as a scathing satire of class abuses, a comic masterpiece falling somewhere between Barbara Pym and Monty Python.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSir Edmund and Lady Evelyn Roundelay live surrounded by a menagerie of relations and retainers. The Roundelays' history of callous cruelty is literally etched on a window of the servants' quarters with the words \"Heryn I dye, Thomas Picocke. 1792.\" Sir Edmund reflects cheerfully on the running footmen who have 'died off like flies' in the family's service.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBut now--amidst digressions on everything from family history and servant woes to the villagers' linguistic peculiarities and a song immortalizing the footman's plight--war threatens the Roundelays' smug superiority. What's more, it appears that the estate's peacock is a reincarnation of Thomas Picocke, and may be aiding the Nazi cause ... By turns giddy and incisive, hilarious and heartbreaking, \u003cem\u003eA Footman for the Peacock\u003c\/em\u003e is Rachel Ferguson at her very best. This new edition features an introduction by Elizabeth Crawford.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e'The Roundelays are people to live with and laugh at and love' \u003cem\u003ePunch\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Dean Street Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/03\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781911413714\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 220\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.81h x 5.06w x 0.46d","brand":"Rachel Ferguson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":37893761663157,"sku":"9781911413714","price":13.59,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_13613175-626d-4b08-a97b-47becd5c5fda.jpg?v=1607692656","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/a-footman-for-the-peacock-9781911413714","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}